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Alternative Title

The swedish and norwegian artists in France between 1889 and 1908 : the myth of return

Abstract

This dissertation is about the presence of Swedish and Norwegian artists in France during the years 1889 to 1908. Traditionally these years have been considered as a period when Scandinavian artists left France to return to their homelands and according to this traditional view, they only returned to Paris and French influence with the arrival of Henri Matisse’s students around 1908. A thorough study of their presence in the Parisian Salons has been conducted which determines that their numbers do not decrease and that the departure of certain Scandinavian artists was balanced by the arrival of others. By examining the size and the activity of this artistic community in France during these two so-called nationalistic decades, it appears in fact that the hypothesis about the return to Scandinavia in the 1890’s is a myth created by a distorted historiography. Most Scandinavian expatriate artists living in France between 1889 and 1908 led successful careers in a cosmopolitan and international environment. The reasons for the misinterpretation of this period in Scandinavian art history have been analysed using historical and current texts and art history handbooks. Further investigation based on the correspondence of these artists, kept chiefly by the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and in the archives of Auguste Rodin, as well as the study of their critical reception in France, have shown that the Parisian colony of Scandinavian artists has often been excluded from exhibitions organized in France by their home countries and that the career of these expatriate artists as well as the role of France during this period has been minimized in Scandinavian art history.